Future World Cup winner Alan Ball was on target for Blackpool on Christmas Day in 1965

The presents have been opened, the dinner cooked and eaten, now what? Fall asleep in front of the TV? Walk the dog? Or do you fancy popping out to watch your team on Christmas Day?

Up to 60 years ago this would have been an option before Blackpool and Blackburn Rovers played out what would be the final Football League game on 25 December.

Since the second league season in 1889-90, Christmas Day had been a major date on the footballing calendar. As one of the few public holidays it was a chance for teams to attract big crowds, which was made easier with public transport running.

"Christmas football was originally rooted in a wider tradition of communal entertainments," Professor Martin Johnes of Swansea University told BBC Sport.